Apparatus for the removal of burrs and other foreign matter from fibres



3,200,445 OTHER Aug. 17, 1965 APPARATUS Aug. 17, 1965 w. v. MORGAN 3,200,445 APPARATUS FOR THE REMOVAL OF BURRS AND OTHER FOREIGN MATTER FROM FIBRES Filed Sept. 4, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 17, 1965 w. v. MORGAN 3 0,

APPARATUS FOR THE REMOVAL OF BURKS AND OTHER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 4, 1962 Claims United States Patent 3,260,445 APPARATUS FUR THE REMOVAL OF EURRS AND QTHER FOREIGN MATTER FROM FIBRES William Vivian litiorgan, Highton, Victoria, Australia, assignor to Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Re- Search Organization, Victoria, Australia, a body corporate Filed Sept. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 221,011 priority, application Australia, Sept. 7, 1961,

8,963/61; Jan. 17, 1962, 13,409/62 7 Claims. (CI. 19-84) This invention relates to the removal of burrs, seeds and other foreign matter from wool and other like staple fibre materials and is particularly applicable to the removal of burrs, seeds and other solid foreign matter from partially processed Wool. Such matter will hereinafter be referred to as burrs.

In the processing of textile fibres for production of yarns, it is frequently necessary to remove vegetable matter and other solid impurities from the material being processed. This is particularly so in the case of wool, and normally the removal of burrs is carried out at the carding and combing stages, the main proportion of the removal being effected during carding.

In the carding engine, wool is passed over a succession of cylinders covered with attached projections such as card clothing, garnett wire, Morel wire or the like, and is normally, finally removed from a cylinder which moves with the points of the projections trailing. Some of the cylinders move with the points of the projections leading and on these cylinders burrs are removed by means of rotating burr beaters which have their axes stationary and which rotate in the direction of rotation of their respective cylinders so that the beaters beat against the ends of the projections and from the direction of beaten wool.

In our Australian Patent No. 225,760 there is described a method of preparing staple fibre slivers which does not include a carding engine, so that this method of removing burrs cannot be employed. It is the object of the present invention to provide a new means of removing burrs and the like, which does not involve the use of a succession of cylinders, and which can therefore be conveniently incorporated in the method of preparing textile slivers described in our Australian Patent No. 225,760. A further object of the invention is to effect the removal of the burrs with the minimum of disarrangement of the fibres where the fibres are partially aligned.

A further and more specific object of the preferred form of this invention is to provide apparatus in which dofiing problems are not introduced by the necessity to use a toothed roller construction.

According to this invention burrs are removed from fibres by a process wherein the fibres are fed to a moving surface and the burrs are set up above the general level of the fibres and knocked in a direction having a component generally transverse to the direction of motion of the surface.

The invention provides apparatus for removing burrs from fibres comprising a moving surface on which there is formed a series of narrow parallel grooves separated by projections lying parallel to the direction of motion of the surface, means to supply fibres to the surface, means to remove fibres from the surface, the fibres on the surface being induced to lie down in the grooves whilst the burrs remain set up on the projections and a heater to 32%,44-5 Patented Aug. 17, 1965 beat the burrs in a direction having a component generally transverse to the direction of motion of the surface and preferably also a component in a rearward direction.

More particularly the invention provides apparatus comprising a rotatable working roller having formed in the surface thereof a plurality of closely adjacent narrow circumferential grooves separated by ribs, means to feed fibres to the roller, means to remove fibres from the roller and a burr beater mounted close to but clear of the ribs and arranged to beat the burrs with a force having components transverse to and opposite to the direction of motion of the adjacent surface of the roller; the roller, the fibre feeding means and the fibre removing means being so arranged that the fibre path between the input and output nip positions is of length which is comparable with the mean fibre length of the fibres being treated and so that the fibres are drawn down into the grooves whilst the burrs remain set up on the ribs. The burr beater may be in the form of a rotating helical blade having its axis parallel to the axis of the working roller. In an alternative form of the invention the burr beater may be in the form of a toothed blade adapted to move across the surface of the working roller parallel to the axis of the roller. The leading edges of the teeth are rearwardiy raked in relation to their direction of motion and preferably also their leading edges are bevelled. The invention will be more fully described with reference to preferred embodiments which are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a transverse cross-section of a burr removing apparatus constructed according to this invention,

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view on the line 22 in FIGURE 1 with parts in elevation,

FIGURE 3 is a greatly magnified schematic view showing a burr set upon the working roller,

FIGURE 4 is a greatly magnified schematic view showing the action of burr removal,

FIGURE 5 is .an enlarged view, partly in cross-section, of part of the working roller,

FIGURE 6 is a schematic view similar to FIGURE 1 showing an alternative burr beater,

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the ringed portion of FIGURE 6, and

FIGURE 8 is an underneath plan view of the portion shown in FIGURE 7.

The apparatus shown in FIGURES 1 to 5 comprises a pair of spaced frame members 1 which carry between them a working roller 2, feed-in rollers 3, 4 and 5; takeoff rollers 6, 7 and apron 8, burr beater -10 and main drive shaft 1 1. The upper feed-in roller 3 and the lower apron roller 9 are spring loaded onto their respective lower rollers. The working roller 2 has its surface grooved to form a series of undercut circumferential grooves .12 separated by ribs 13. It will be noted from FIGURE 5 that due to the undercutting the ribs lean to the left (in the drawing) and the angle of undercut is about 15. This is done to give added strength to the ribs and as will be later explained it is also believed to improve the efiiciency of burr removal. The burr heater is in the form of a cylinder the surface of which is formed to provide helical blades 114 which, for the most part, are of left handed helix. The helix angle is 45. However, for a reason which will later be explained the direction of the helix changes near the right hand end of the beater to provide a portion 15 having a right handed helix.

Each of the rollers 2, 3, 4, 5, '6, 7 and 9 and burr beater or to the right hand side by the beater blades that the right 10 is driven at suitably adjusted peripheral speeds by gearing and chains from the main drive shaft l l.

The operation of the apparatus will now be described in relation to its use in the removal of burrs from partially aligned wool fibres prepared in apparatus of the type described in our Australian Patent No. 225,760. Wool fibre 16 in partially aligned sliver form is fed through the feed-in rollers 3, 4, 5 under the working roller 2 to the nip of the take-oif rollers 6, 7 and the apron '8. The apparatus shown is designed for the removal of burrs from short fine wool fibres having a mean fibre length of the order of 5 to 8 ems. and the outside diameter of the working roller is about 2.5 cms. It will be seen therefore that the ratch between the feed-in and take-off positions (i.e. the sliver path length :between the nip position A of the feed-in rollers and the nip position B of the take-off roller 7 and apron 8) is about 6.5 ems. which is of the same order as the mean fibre length of the fibres being treated. The peripheral speeds of the feed-in rollers and the take-off rollers is such that there is a draft of about 1.5 between the two. The effect of this is therefore that fibres which are aligned with the direction of motion of the sliver are drawn fairly tightly beteen the two nip positions, either by actual nipping of the rollers or by inter fibre forces, and are drawn down between the ribs of the working roller. Since in the sliver being treated there is a fair degree of preferred orientation of the fibres in the direction of motion this means a majority of the fibres will lie in the grooves. In any event, even the fibres which lie transversely of the grooves will be pulled down by the inter-fibre forces so that in general the Sliver is pulled into the grooves. However, the grooves are narrow grooves and the burrs entrapped in the fibres are too wide to enter them. The result is that the burr 21 is left set up on the ribs as is shown diagrammatically in FIGURES 3 and 4.

A burr so set up is ideally situated to :be knocked out of the wool. This is done :by the helical bladed beater which rotates in the same sense as the working cylinder so that at the beating zone their surfaces are contra-moving. The beater therefore delivers a blow which is rearward (in relation to the motion of the burr) and to the right (since the helix is left-handed) as shown in FIG- URE 4. Since the beater blade is a continuous helix the burr is thereafter subjected to a dislodging force which is sideways and backwards which, in the arrangement shown is the ideal direction for :burr removal without fibre disarrangement. It may also be observed from FIGURES 2 and 5 that the direction of the dislodging force is against the lean of the ribs 13. With the beating force so directed the tendency for wool to 'be removed is resisted by engagement with the ribs and the bur-r is prevented from passing over the beater and out of the beating zone by virtue of the fact that the beater blade is continually pushing it backwards. Ideally the relative speeds of forward feeding of the fibre and of rotation of the burr beater are adjusted so that the resultant of the forces acting on the burr and the wool is perpendicularly to the side. Since the heater and the working roller are each rotating their surfaces diverge on either side of point of tangency (which is the theoretical beating point) so that the direction in which the burr is beaten is out of the plane of the wool.

Due to the arrangement of the grooved working roller in relation to the feed-in and take-off rollers and due to the direction in which the beating force acts efiicient heating is obtained without the necessity to use teeth on the working roller as in previous constructions. The fibres are effectively held down into the grooves by the nipping forces and the inter-fibre forces and the Iburr is sub ected to a continuous beating force until it is dislodged from the fibres and knocked away to the side. :In operation of the above apparatus it was found that the burrs and some short fibres were being knocked so forcefully hand bearings such as 17 and 1711 were being fouledby fine material. This problem was overcome by reversing the direction of the helix over a short end portion of the beater.

In a typical installation the dimensions of the working roller 2 may be as follows:

Outside diameter=2.5 cms. Root diameter=2.l8 cms. Ribs per inch: 17

Width of ri'bs=. 07'6 cm. Angle of undercut=1 5 The dimensions of the burr beater 10 may be as follows:

Outside diameter=5 ems. Inside diameter=3.73 cms. Helix angle= No. of starts: 8 Blade width=0.67 cm.

This apparatus, operating at a delivery rate of 100 feet per minute and with the beater rotating at 3000 r.p.m. was found to effect efiicient burr removal from scoured wool of mean fibre length 6.5 cms. which had been partially aligned by apparatus of the type described in our said Australian patent specification No. 225,760.

In the alternative construction shown in FIGURES 6 to 8 all of the parts are the same in the previously described construction except the burr beater itself. In this case the burr beater, instead of being in the form of rotating helical blades, is in the form of a plain band-saw-like blade 18 having teeth 19 the leading edges 20 of which are bevelled and are backwardly raked as shown in FIG- URE 8. The saw blade is arranged parallel to the axis of the working rollers and it moves laterally across the roller surface. The burr beating action is the same as that previously described. Due to the fact that the leading edge of each tooth is backwardly raked, it will when striking a burr deliver to it a blow which is sideways and to the rear. Also due to the fact that the leading edge is bevelled the blow will also have a component tending to knock the burr out of the plane of the sliver.

As in the previous construction sliver is fed to the working roller 2 by means of the feed-in rollers 3, 4, 5 and is taken off by the take-otf rollers 6, 7 and the apron 8. The fibres are drawn down into the grooves 12 and the burr 21 remains set up on the ribs 13. The band-saw blade is continuously moved across the surface of the roller so that the burr set up receives a series of blows tending to knock it sideways and to the rear and out of the plane of the sliver until eventually the burr is freed from the fibres and is knocked away.

It is to be understood that each of the above constructions is described by way of example only and for the purpose of illustrating the invention. Many modifications and adaptations may readily be made to those constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for removing burrs from partially aligned fibres comprising a rotatable working roller having a plurality of closely adjacent plain continuous ribs defining narrow circumferential grooves therebetween extending in the direction of partial fibre alignment, input feed means for feeding fibres to said working roller and having an input nip, output feed means for moving fibres from said working roller and having an output nip, said output means being operated at a speed greater than said input means, said input nip and said output nip being located so that the fibre path therebetween is of a length which is comparable with that of the mean fibre length of the fibres being treated whereby the fibres are drawn down into said grooves while burrs remain set up on said ribs, and a burr beater mounted close to and clear of the ribs and arranged to beat the burrs, set up with a force having components transverse to and opposite to the direction of motion of the adjacent surface of the working roller.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the burr beater is in the form of a rotating cylinder having at least one helical blade of a given hand for substantially the length of the cylinder and of the opposite hand near one end of the cylinder.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the ribs of the Working roller as dished so that they lean in the direction opposite to the transverse component of the beating force.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the burr beater comprises a toothed blade movable across the surface of the working roller parallel to the roller axis and having teeth with the leading edges thereof backwardly raked.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein the leading edges of the teeth are also bevelled.

6. An apparatus for removing burrs from fibres comprising a rotatable working roller having a plurality of closely adjacent ribs defining narrow circumferential grooves therebetween, input feed means for feeding fibres to said Working roller and having an input nip, output feed means for removing fibres from said working roller and having an output nip, said output means being operated at a speed greater than said input means, said input nip and said output nip being located on a line a portion of which forms a chord of a circle defined by the cross section of said working roller so that the fibre path therebetween is of a length which is comparable with that of the mean fibre length of the fibres being treated where- 6 by the fibres are drawn down into said grooves while burrs remain set up on said ribs, and a burr beater mounted close to and clear of the ribs and arranged to beat the burrs set up with a force having components transverse to and opposite to the direction of motion of the adjacent surface of the working roller.

7. An apparatus for removing burrs from partially aligned fibres comprising a rotatable working roller having a plurality of closely adjacent ribs defining narrow circumferential grooves therebetween extending in the direction of partial fibre alignment, input feed means for feeding fibres to said working roller, output feed means for removing fibres from said working roller, said input feed means and said output feed means being located so that the fibre path therebetween is of a length which is comparable with that of the mean fibre length of the fibres being treated and being operated to draw the fibres down into said grooves while burrs remain set up on said ribs, and a burr beater mounted close to and clear of the ribs and arranged to beat the burrs setup with a force having components transverse to and opposite to the direction of motion of the adjacent surface of the Working roller.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 1,137 2/61 Parkhurst 1984 4,023 5/45 Parkhurst 19-84 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,061 18/85 Great Britain.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR REMOVING BURRS FROM PARTIALLY ALIGNED FIBRES COMPRISING A ROTATABLE WORKING ROLLER HAVING A PLURALITY OF CLOSELY ADJACENT PLAIN CONTINUOUS RIBS DEFINING NARROW CIRCUMFERENTIAL GROOVES THEREBETWEEN EXTENDING IN THE DIRECTION OF PARTIAL FIBRE ALIGNMENT, INPUT FEED MEANS FOR FEEDING FIBRES TO SAID WORKING ROLLER AND HAVING AN INPUT NIP, OUTPUT FEED MEANS FOR MOVING FIBRES FROM SAID WORKING ROLLER AND HAVING AN OUTPUT NIP, SAID OUTPUT MEANS BEING OPERATED AT A SPEED GREATER THAN SAID INPUT MEANS, SAID INPUT NIP AND SAID OUTPUT NIP BEING LOCATED SO THAT THE FIBRE PATH THEREBETWEEN IS OF A 